How To Start Exercising – Even If You HATE Exercise – The Neuroscience And Brain Hacks That Works
You Will Not Believe How Good It Works – Unless You Try It!
If you are one of the (not so many) people who loves to exercise and enjoys it, this article is not for you.
This is for people who, like me, are more on the lazy side – maybe a bit or a lot overweight, knowing we should exercise for our health and maybe to assist weight loss (and yes, you absolutely CAN lose weight without exercise – it is just harder).
We don’t get the often-touted “endorphin boost” or “runners’ high” while exercising. We just sweat and get tired. Right?
So here is the “naked” truth:
Some of us hate exercise. We seem to get nothing but dread out of it. The thought of sweating and going to the gym makes us cringe and we want to go to a sandy beach instead and just relax while listening to the soothing sound of ocean waves and dreaming…. (and certainly not of working out in a gym!!!)
Yet so-called “experts” tell us to just go to the gym and exercise. Our body needs exercise, they say. It’s easy, they say. Just get motivated and do it.
Yeah, right, how do they know!
We have all the good intentions. This time, this year it will be different, and we will stick with it. We know we can do it, right?
Yet this great motivation and all the intention doesn’t last long…
We fall off the bandwagon, and we fail…..again. We tell ourselves we are just “lazy”, “unfit”, maybe we even tell us worse things like “we will always fail” or even worse “I am a failure and can’t do anything right”.
This then sometimes spreads into the rest of your life and can lead to dysphoria, low mood and even depression and anxiety.
Is that you? Me, too!
I was there, depressed, sad, secretly “knowing” in my mind that I would fail again even it I tried it.
But bravely I put my fake smile “mask” on, “pulled myself together” (as if that is any good) and tried it again. And again, the same results.
Then I read this quote, attributed to Albert Einstein:
“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”
At first, I sighed. Well I am insane, then. Einstein has proven it.
Well, well, not so fast.
Think about it: What if….
What if there was a way to change our attitude and love the Gym?
Not so easy, you say. I tried saying it to myself as a positive affirmation.
Yep, I hear you. This too, didn’t work, right?
Why that? Because we never believed it. It just wasn’t OUR truth!
And yet – I found a way to eat this cake and have it, too!
You know, something the experts say is true:
Our body does need movement to get healthy. And in our modern world it is harder and harder to add enough movement in our day.
Yes, going the stairs in the office, adding a power walk is great. A nature walk is wonderful.
But then – who really does it? Not many. And who wants to get sweaty at lunch break? Not many.
So gyms were invented in our modern time to give us a (relatively) safe place to get all the exercise we need. This is great – unless, you, like me, hate to exercise!
Great. So why did I always hate going to the gym to exercise? Why did I start and then stop?
Here is why so many start going to the Gym – and then stop after a few weeks or months.
Gym owners know it: Most memberships are bought after New Year and then the Gym gets busy – for a few weeks and maybe months. But then? The big slump.
I developed this strategy after failing so often myself to start an exercise routine… Then I studied Brain Health and Neuroscience, the Science of Change and how to form habits to change.
A good book to start exploring this deeper is: “Mini Habits” or “Atomic Habits”
So here is my 7-Step strategy to change my perception that “I hate exercise”
“The No-Stress, No-Motivation Way to Start your Exercise Habit”
